Special thanks goes to Gary
Harland for the research about when Northern Ireland started to play
under the name of Northern Ireland. The following message was recived from
Marshall Gillespie, the autor of the Northern
Ireland Football Yearbook.

"Northern Ireland's first game under that title was on 2nd October 1954,
versus England at Windsor Park, Belfast. FIFA ordered the IFA to name their
International team Northern Ireland in June 1954. At the same time FIFA
also ordered the FAI to name their team the Republic of Ireland."